An area that is one of the nation’s hotbeds for swimming is getting a new college program.
New College of Florida, an NAIA school located in Sarasota, Florida, announced it will launch men’s and women’s swimming programs that will begin competition in the 2025-26 academic year.
New College of Florida, which will compete in the Sun Conference within the NAIA, announced that Matthew Gilbert will be the inaugural coach of its men’s and women’s programs.
Gilbert will come over from Midland University in Nebraska to help the program get off and running. He’ll have a national powerhouse in his conference to try and build up towards, as Keiser swept the men’s and women’s NAIA national titles earlier this month.
In a press release by the school, New College of Florida Vice President of Athletics Mariano Jimenez said starting a swimming program will be an important part of the university’s long-term vision.
“Bringing collegiate swimming to Sarasota is a natural fit,” said Jimenez. “We are in one of the best swimming communities in the country, and we plan on winning at a high level—both in and out of the pool. With Coach Gilbert at the helm, I have no doubt we will establish a strong foundation for success.”
Sarasota is home to the Sarasota Sharks, which saw swimmers Danica Aten, Addison Sauickie, Gracie Weyant and Michaela Mattes qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials last year.
Of course, the club is also where Summer McIntosh has trained since 2022, although she recently announced this will be her last year training with the Sharks.
“With Sarasota’s rich swimming culture and the incredible support from New College, we have everything in place to compete at a championship level,” Gilbert said in the school’s release.
Nicknamed the Mighty Banyans, New College of Florida said in the release that more information will be provided in the near future about a schedule, where the team will train and recruitment.
The New College of Florida athletics program also offers men’s and women’s basketball, golf, soccer, lacrosse and tennis, baseball (men’s), esports (men’s), cross country (men’s), beach volleyball (women’s), softball (women’s) and volleyball (women’s).
What pool will they train in?
They have a 6 lane 25-meter pool on campus.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/11/new-college-of-florida-rightwing-takeover
Just threw up a little, in the back of my throat, I’m fine, move on.
This is much needed positive news for the sport of swimming . . . Not everything has to be political.
Not everything has to be political.
But THIS is absolutely political.
Sincerely,
The alumni
When I had an “interview” with them, the Interviewer stated he’d take my responses back to AD to see if there was a fit (not abnormal). He then proceeded to ask about marriage and home life (abnormal and the questions one is not allowed to ask)- weird af (and yes, called them on it). Funny, didn’t hear back….
Hard to take the article seriously when the author conflates liberal arts school with a liberal institution.
New College of Florida actually was a very progressive university, as well as a liberal arts college, until recently.
Yeah, liberal arts is just an all-encompassing term for generic higher education degrees in arts and sciences. Their roots go back to private and religious beginnings.
Read past the first paragraph, it’s clear the author knows the difference, and deliberately wrote what they wrote.
Sounds like Liberty University South
Not to forget the 2nd place US Masters program